Russian surnames that are actually noble. What are Russian surnames of noble origin Surnames of the nobility

Since ancient times, a surname could change a person’s life; it carried the entire history of the family and gave many privileges. People spent a lot of effort and finances to have a good title, and sometimes even sacrificed their lives for this. It was almost impossible for an ordinary resident to be included in the list of nobles.

Types of titles

There were many titles in Tsarist Russia, each of them had its own history and carried its own capabilities. All noble families followed the family tree and very carefully selected pairs for their family members. The marriage of two noble families was more of a calculated calculation than love relationships. Russian noble families stayed together and did not allow members without a title into their families.

Among these genera could be:

1. Princes.
2. Graphs.
3. Barons.
4. Kings.
5. Dukes.
6. Marquises.

Each of these clans had its own history and led its own family tree. It was strictly forbidden for a nobleman to create a family with a commoner. Thus, it was almost impossible for an ordinary ordinary resident of Tsarist Russia to become a nobleman, unless for very great achievements before the country.

Princes Rurikovich

Princes are one of the highest noble titles. Members of such a family always had a lot of land, finances and slaves. It was a great honor for a representative of the family to be at court and help the ruler. Having proven himself, a member of the princely family could become a trusted person of the ruler. The famous noble families of Russia in most cases had a princely title. But titles could be divided according to the methods of obtaining them.

One of the most famous princely families Russia had the Rurikovichs. The list of noble families begins with her. The Rurikovichs are immigrants from Ukraine and descendants of Igor’s great Rus'. The roots of many European rulers come from This is a strong dynasty that brought the world many famous rulers who were in power for a long time throughout Europe. But a number historical events, which occurred in those days, divided the family into many branches. Russian noble families, such as Pototsky, Peremyshl, Chernigov, Ryazan, Galician, Smolensky, Yaroslavl, Rostov, Belozersky, Suzdal, Smolensky, Moscow, Tver, Starodubsky, belong specifically to the Rurik family.

Other princely titles

In addition to the descendants of the Rurikovich family, noble families in Russia can be such as the Otyaevs. This family received its title thanks to the good warrior Khvostov, who had the nickname Otyay in the army, and dates back to one thousand five hundred and forty-three.

The Ofrosmovs are an example of a strong will and a great desire to achieve a goal. The founder of the family was a strong and courageous warrior.

The Pogozhevs are natives of Lithuania. The founder of the family was helped to obtain the princely title by his oratory and the ability to conduct military negotiations.

The list of noble families also includes the Pozharskys, Polevys, Pronchishchevs, Protopopovs, Tolstoys, and Uvarovs.

Count's titles

But the names noble origin- these are not only princes. Count dynasties also had high titles and powers at court. This title was also considered very high and gave a lot of powers.

Receiving the title of count was a great achievement for any member of royal society. Such a title, first of all, made it possible to have power and be closer to the ruling dynasty. The noble families of Russia mostly consist of counts. The easiest way to achieve this title was through successful military operations.

One of these surnames is Sheremetv. This is a count family that still exists in our time. General of the Army received this title for his achievements in military operations and service royal family.

Ivan Golovkin is the founder of another family of noble origin. According to many sources, this is a count who appeared in Russia after the wedding of his only daughter. One of the few count families that ended with a single representative of the dynasty.

The noble family Minich had many branches, and the main reason for this was large quantities women in this family. When marrying, Milikh women took a double surname and mixed titles.

Courtiers received many count titles during the reign of Catherine Petrovna. She was a very generous queen and awarded titles to many of her military leaders. Thanks to her, such names as Efimovsky, Gendrikov, Chernyshev, Razumovsky, Ushakov and many others appeared on the list of nobles.

Barons at court

Many holders of baronial titles also had famous noble families. Among them are family families and granted barons. This, like all other titles, could be obtained with good service. And of course, the simplest and most effective way was to carry out military operations for the homeland.

This title was very popular in the Middle Ages. The family title could be received by wealthy families who sponsored the royal family. This title appeared in the fifteenth century in Germany and, like everything new, gained great popularity. The royal family practically sold it to all rich families who had the opportunity to help and sponsor all the royal endeavors.

To bring rich families closer to him, he introduced a new title - baron. One of the first owners of this title was the banker De Smith. Thanks to banking and trading, this family earned its finances and was elevated to the rank of baron by Peter.

Russian noble families with the title of baron also added the surname Fridriks. Like de Smith, Yuri Fridriks was a good banker who lived and worked at the royal court for a long time. Born into a titled family, Yuri also received a title under Tsarist Russia.

In addition to them, there were a number of surnames with the title of baron, information about which was stored in military documents. These are warriors who earned their titles by actively participating in hostilities. Thus, the noble families of Russia were replenished with such members as: Baron Plotto, Baron von Rummel, Baron von Malama, Baron Ustinov and the family of Baron Schmidt brothers. Most of them came from European countries and came to Russia on work matters.

Royal families

But not only titled families are included in the list of noble families. Russian noble families headed the royal families for many years.

One of the most ancient royal families Russia had the Godunovs. This is the royal family, which was in power for many years. The first of this family was Tsarina Godunova, who formally ruled the country for only a few days. She renounced the throne and decided to spend her life in a monastery.

The next, no less famous surname of the royal Russian family- these are the Shuiskys. This dynasty spent little time in power, but was included in the list of noble families of Russia.

The Great Queen Skavronskaya, better known as Catherine the First, also became the founder of the royal family dynasty. We should not forget about such a royal dynasty as Biron.

Dukes at court

Russian noble families also have the title of dukes. Receiving the title of Duke was not so easy. Basically, these families included very rich and ancient families of Tsarist Russia.

The owners of the title of Duke in Russia were the Chertozhansky family. The family existed for many centuries and was engaged in agriculture. This was a very rich family that had a lot of land.

The Duke of Nesvizh is the founder of the city of the same name Nesvizh. There are many versions of the origin of this family. The Duke was a great connoisseur of art. His castles were the most remarkable and beautiful buildings of that time. Owning large lands, the duke had the opportunity to help tsarist Russia.

Menshikov is another of the famous ducal families in Russia. Menshikov was not just a duke, he was a famous military leader, army general and governor of St. Petersburg. He received his title for his achievements and service to the royal crown.

Title of Marquis

The title of marquis in Tsarist Russia was mainly given to wealthy families with foreign origins. This was an opportunity to bring foreign capital into the country. One of the most famous names was Traversie. This is an ancient French family, whose representatives were at the royal court.

Among the Italian marquises was the Paulluci family. Having received the title of marquis, the family remained in Russia. Another Italian family received the title of marquis at the royal court of Russia - Albizzi. This is one of the richest Tuscan families. They earned all their income from entrepreneurial activities in the production of fabrics.

Meaning and privileges of title

For courtiers, having a title provided many opportunities and wealth. When receiving a title, it often brought with it generous gifts from the crown. Often these gifts were lands and wealth. The royal family gave such gifts for special achievements.

For rich families who earned their wealth on the generous Russian soil, it was very important to have a good title, for this they financed the royal undertakings, thereby buying their family a high title and good attitude. In addition, only titled families could be close to the royal family and participate in ruling the country.

Economic differentiation among the nobility clearly shows the heterogeneity of the noble class. An important factor What separated the nobles was also the presence of a title; the division into titled nobility (princes, counts, barons) and untitled nobility (the majority of the class) was always present in the life of noble society.

Family titles appeared in medieval Europe to indicate the degree of vassal dependence on the lord. In modern times, neither in Russia nor in Europe, the possession of a title did not bring its owner any special legal rights; the title provided an opportunity to join a select circle and was an indicator of either the nobility of the family or special merits before the throne.

Princes

In Rus', until the 18th century, there was only a princely title, which was passed on by inheritance. The title of prince meant belonging to a family that once ruled a certain territory of the country. Among the Slavs, the leaders of the squad, and then the rulers of individual lands - principalities, were called princes.

From the 11th century The princely title belonged only to the descendants of Rurik, who ruled in various lands. In the XIV century. The descendants of the Lithuanian grand ducal dynasty - the Gediminovichs - enter Russian service. In the Moscow state of the 17th century. the princely title was held by the descendants of these two families - the Rurikovichs (Obolensky, Volkonsky, Repnin, Odoevsky, Gagarin, Vyazemsky, etc.), Gediminovich (Kurakins, Golitsyns, Khovanskys, Trubetskoys), as well as some descendants of the Golden Horde nobility and Caucasian families (Urusovs, Yusupovs , Cherkasy). In total there were 47 princely families.

Until the 18th century The princely title was passed on only by inheritance; it could not be received as a royal favor. The award of a princely title first occurred under Peter I, when A.D. Menshikov in 1707 began to be called Prince Izhora.

Under Catherine, there was a whole series of princely grants from the Holy Roman Emperor - to G. A. Potemkin, P. A. Zubov, G. G. Orlov and others.

Under Paul, 5 people were elevated to princely dignity, among them A.V. Suvorov, called the Prince of Italy. Suvorov was later granted the title of His Serene Highness. The most serene princes (among them were M.I. Golinishchev-Kutuzov, N.I. Saltykov, A.K. Razumovsky) were called “your lordship”; Hereditary princes, in contrast, had the title “Your Excellency.”

TO end of the 19th century V. due to the suppression of some families (Bezborodko, Lopukhins, Razumovskys), the number of princely families who received the title through a grant was about 20.

New princely families arose in the 19th - early 20th centuries. also as a result of morganatic marriages. This was the name given to marriages of members of the imperial family with persons who did not belong to the ruling houses. Such marriages had legal force, with the exception of inheritance rights. If a member imperial family If there was a husband, then the wife and children bore a different surname, being the founders of a new family.

Graphs

The title of count originally existed in Western European monarchies. It appeared in Russia from the time of Peter the Great. In 1706, B.P. Sheremetev became the first Russian count proper. Among the first nobles elevated to the rank of count were G. I. Golovkin, F. M. Apraksin, P. A. Tolstoy.

The first morganatic marriage in the Russian royal dynasty was the union of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich with the Polish Countess Grudzinskaya, who then became known as Her Serene Highness Princess Lovich.

In 1880, the family of princes Yuryevsky appeared, this title was granted to E. M. Dolgorukova, with whom Emperor Alexander II entered into a morganatic marriage. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna awarded the title of count to the Razumovsky and Shuvalov brothers, and Catherine - to the Orlov brothers.

Noble names

Some surnames are transformed from foreign ones, the owners of which arrived in Rus' from other states. Thus, the Russian noble family of the Golovins descended from the famous Byzantine family of the Khovrins, and the nobles Empress Elizaveta Petrovna awarded the count title to the Razumovsky and Shuvalov brothers, and Catherine - to the Orlov brothers.

Counts at this time often became favorites of emperors and empresses, close relatives of the imperial family, people who distinguished themselves on the battlefield, in diplomatic and public service.

These representatives of the nobility often stood closer to the throne than the descendants of the old fading princely families, therefore in the 18th century. The title of count was sometimes valued higher than that of prince. At the beginning of the 20th century. 320 count families were taken into account.

Barons

The baronial title also came to Russia from Western Europe in the 18th century. Among the first Russian barons were P. P. Shafirov, A. I. Osterman, and the Stroganov brothers. Traditionally, the baronial title was awarded to financiers and industrialists (Fredericks, Stieglitz) and foreigners who distinguished themselves in Russian service (Nikolai, Delvig, Bellingshausen).

Most of the hereditary baronial families were of Baltic origin. Among the most famous Baltic barons are the Wrangels, Richters, and Palens. By the beginning of the 20th century. There were more than 250 baronial families in Russia.

At all times, among the nobility, the antiquity of the family was still valued above any title, therefore the most honorable title was the title of pillar nobles, who traced their noble lineage for more than 100 years.

After all, a title, even a princely one, could be acquired, but noble ancestors, if they do not exist, cannot be given by any government. An illustrative example is the noble family of the Naryshkins, who never possessed any titles, but were among the first among nobles and courtiers.

Noble names

Noble dignity was not expressed in any way in the Russian nominal formula; there were no special prefixes indicating noble origin (for example, von in German or de vo French names). The very possession of a first name, patronymic and last name at a certain stage already spoke of a noble title.

Other classes for a long time did not have surnames at all. For nobles, belonging to a certain surname meant tribal self-identification.

The surnames of ancient noble families often came from the names of the places of reign. This is how the surnames Vyazemsky, Beloselsky, Obolensky, Volkonsky, Trubetskoy appeared, associated with the names of rivers, lakes, cities and villages. Often the surnames of the entire family came from some ancient ancestor who left a mark on history (Golitsyns, Tolstoys, Kurakins).

Some surnames are transformed from foreign ones, the owners of which arrived in Rus' from other states. Thus, the Russian noble family of the Golovins descended from the famous Byzantine family of the Khovrins, and the Khomutov nobles had the Scotsman Hamilton as their ancestor.

The German surname Levenshtein eventually turned into the Russian surname Levshin, and the descendants of people from Florence Chicheri began to be called Chicherins in Russia. Many surnames originated from Tatar noble families - Godunovs, Karamzins, Kudashevs.

Usually surnames in Russia were single, but sometimes, especially among the nobility, surnames were doubled. The reasons for this could be different, sometimes to the surname big kind added the surname of a separate branch.

An example is the princes of Rostov, whose various branches began to be called the Buinosov-Rostov, Lobanov-Rostov, Kasatkin-Rostov. In order not to lose the famous extinct surname, it was added to theirs by female or collateral heirs. This is how the Repnins-Bolkonskys, Vorontsovs-Dashkovs, Golitsyns-Prozorovskys, Orlovs-Denisovs, etc. appeared.

Another group of double surnames arose as a result of the granting of a higher title and the addition of an honorific prefix to the family surname.

Often such prefixes were given for military victories, as a result of these famous names became part Russian history: Orlov-Chesmensky, Rumyantsev-Zadunaysky, Potemkin-Tavrichesky, Suvorov-Rymniksky.

Family connections

The nobleman never lived on his own, he was always a member of the family, he always felt that he belonged to a certain family, he thought of himself as the successor to his many ancestors, and was responsible for his descendants. For noble world In this regard, close attention to family ties and relationships, sometimes very complex, is very characteristic.

The ability to understand all the intricacies of kinship was caused by necessity, because the title of nobility, family titles, and, finally, lands and property were inherited according to the kinship principle.

In addition, noble families were, as a rule, numerous; in each generation they entered into kinship relationships with several clans.

The basis of noble family ties was belonging to a certain family; the concept of “genus” implied that people had different generations one common ancestor - the ancestor.

The figure of the ancestor is rather conventional, because he also had ancestors. Usually the ancestor became the earliest ancestor about whom information has been preserved, who committed some high-profile deeds, had merits to the fatherland, or came to serve in Russia from foreign lands.

Given the overall small number of the noble class, family ties could be an obstacle to marriages, because the church prohibited marriages between close relatives. Therefore, knowledge of one’s own and others’ family circle was the most important part of noble life.

A clan generation, or tribe, consists of descendants who are at an equal distance from a common ancestor. If kinship is transmitted through the male line, and this was precisely the tradition among the Russian nobility, the descendants of the brothers form different branches of the clan.

If one of the representatives of the clan received a title, his descendants represented a special line of the clan - count or prince.

Thus, in the Orlov family tree there were three lines: noble ( most representatives of the family), count (descendants of the five Orlov brothers, who became counts under Catherine II), princely (heirs of A.F. Orlov, whose title was granted in 1856 by Alexander II).

Based on materials from the book “Noble and Merchant Families of Russia” by A. V. Zhukov.

The list of popular genus names is endless, because as many people there are as many opinions. Each person will point to beautiful surnames that he personally likes. They can be short or long, but, according to most, the most popular are aristocratic designations of family names. Let's figure out which surnames are more common and respected, and where they even came from.

List of the most beautiful Russian surnames in the world

The word "surname" is translated from Latin language as "family". This means that this indicates that a person belongs to the clan from which he came. The emergence of family nicknames was often associated with the profession that the family practiced from generation to generation or with the name of the area in which the family lived, or the name of the family indicated character traits, specific appearance, and a nickname. It’s not for nothing that there is a saying “not in the eye, but in the eye” - people have always applied labels very accurately.

In Russia, at first there was only a first name and patronymic, and the first surnames appeared only in the 14th century. Naturally, noble people received them: princes, boyars, nobles. Peasants received official family names only at the end of the 19th century, when they abolished serfdom. The first names of dynasties came from the names of places of residence, birth or possessions: Tver, Arkhangelsk, Zvenigorod, Moskvin.

Beautiful American family names compare favorably with other foreign ones - they are very consonant, and the owners wear them with pride. If surnames are not inherited, then any citizen of the United States can change their family name to a more harmonious one. So, the 10 most beautiful names of American men:

1. Robinson
2. Harris
3. Evans
4. Gilmore
5. Florence
6. Stone
7. Lambert
8. Newman

As for American women, as throughout the world, girls take their father’s family name at birth, and their husband’s name upon marriage. Even if a girl wants to keep her family name, after marriage she will have a double surname, for example, Maria Goldman Mrs. Roberts (by her husband). Beautiful generic names for American women:

1. Bellows
2. Houston
3. Taylor
4. Davis
5. Foster

Video: the most common surnames in the world

The most common surnames in the world seem beautiful, because their bearers are popular people, and therefore happy. For example, owners family name There are about one hundred million people on the planet. In second place in terms of polarity is the surname Wang (about 93 million people). In third place is the family name Garcia, common in South America (about 10 million people).

Discuss

The most beautiful surnames in the world

Before being included in the lists of nobility, the gentlemen of Russia belonged to the boyar class. It is believed that at least a third of the boyar families came from immigrants from Poland and Lithuania. However, indications of the origin of a particular noble family sometimes border on falsification.

In the middle of the 17th century, there were approximately 40 thousand service people, including 2-3 thousand listed in Moscow genealogical books. There were 30 boyar families who had exclusive rights to senior positions, including membership in the royal council, senior administrative positions in major orders, and important diplomatic appointments.

Discord between boyar families made it difficult to govern the state. Therefore, it was necessary to create next to ancient caste another, more submissive and less obstinate service class.
Boyars and nobles. The main difference is that the boyars had their own estates, while the nobles did not.

The nobleman had to live on his estate, run the household and wait for the king to call him to war or to court. Boyars and boyar children could appear for service at their own discretion. But the nobles had to serve the king.

Legally, the estate was royal property. The estate could be inherited, divided between heirs, or sold, but the estate could not.In the 16th century, an equalization of the rights of nobles and boyar children took place.During the XVI-XVII centuries. the position of the nobles approached the position of the boyars; in the 18th century, both of these groups merged, and the nobility became the aristocracy of Russia.

However, in Russian Empire there were two different categories of nobles.
Pillar nobles - this was the name in Russia for hereditary nobles of noble families, listed in columns - genealogical books before the reign of the Romanovs in the 16-17 centuries, in contrast to nobles of later origin.

In 1723, the Finnish “knighthood” became part of the Russian nobility.
The annexation of the Baltic provinces was accompanied (from 1710) by the formation of the Baltic nobility.

By decree of 1783 the rights Russian nobles were extended to the nobility of three Ukrainian provinces, in 1784 - to the princes and murzas Tatar origin. In the last quarter of the 18th century. The formation of the Don nobility began at the beginning of the 19th century. the rights of the Bessarabian nobility were formalized, and from the 40s. 19th century - Georgian.
By the middle of the 19th century. The nobility of the Kingdom of Poland is equal in personal rights with the Russian nobility.

However, there are only 877 real ancient Polish noble families, and there are at least 80 thousand current noble families. These surnames, along with tens of thousands of other similar noble Polish surnames, got their start in the 18th century, on the eve of the first partition of Poland, when the magnates of their lackeys, grooms, hounds, etc. raised their servants to gentry dignity, and thus formed almost a third share of the current nobility of the Russian Empire.

How many nobles were there in Russia?
“In 1858 there were 609,973 hereditary nobles, 276,809 personal and office nobles; in 1870 there were 544,188 hereditary nobles, 316,994 personal and office nobles; According to official data for 1877-1878, there were 114,716 noble landowners in European Russia.” Brockhaus and Efron. Article Nobility.

According to the Big Soviet encyclopedia(3rd ed.), in total in the Russian Empire (without) Finland) the big bourgeoisie, landowners, high officials, etc. of both sexes were: in 1897 - 3.0 million people, in 1913 4.1 million. Human. The share of the social group in 1897 was 2.4%, in 1913 - 2.5%. The increase from 1913 to 1897 was 36.7%. USSR article. Capitalist system.

The number of nobility (male): in 1651 - 39 thousand people, 108 thousand in 1782, 4.464 thousand people in 1858, that is, over two hundred years it increased 110 times, while the country's population increased only five times: from 12.6 to 68 million people. Korelin A.P. Russian nobility and its class organization (1861-1904). - History of the USSR, 1971, No. 4.

In the 19th century in Russia there were about 250 princely families, more than half of them were Georgian princes, and 40 families traced their ancestry to Rurik (according to legend, in the 9th century called to “rule in Rus'”) and Gediminas, the Grand Duke of Lithuania, who ruled in XIV century in what is now Western Belarus (“Cornet Obolensky” belonged to the Rurikovichs, and “Lieutenant Golitsyn” belonged to the Gediminovichs).

Even more amusing situations arose with the Georgians than with the Poles.

Since in St. Petersburg they were afraid that the princes would again turn to oligarchic freedom, they began to count the princes carefully, namely, they ordered everyone to prove their right to the principality. And they began to prove it - it turned out that almost none of the princes had documents. A large princely factory of documents was established in Tiflis, and the documents were accompanied by the seals of Heraclius, King Teimuraz and King Bakar, which were very similar. The bad thing was that they didn’t share: there were many hunters for the same possessions. Tynyanov Y. Death of Vazir-Mukhtar, M., Soviet Russia, 1981, p. 213.

In Russia, the title of count was introduced by Peter the Great. The first Russian count was Boris Petrovich Sheremetyev, elevated to this dignity in 1706 for pacifying the Astrakhan rebellion.

The barony was the smallest title of nobility in Russia. Most of the baronial families - there were more than 200 of them - came from Livonia.

Many ancient noble families trace their origins to Mongolian roots. For example, Herzen’s friend Ogarev was a descendant of Ogar-Murza, who went to serve Alexander Nevsky from Batu.
The noble Yushkov family traces its ancestry back to the Horde Khan Zeush, who went into the service of Dmitry Ivanovich Donskoy, and the Zagoskins - from Shevkal Zagor, who left the Golden Horde in 1472 for Moscow and received estates in the Novgorod region from John III.

Khitrovo is an ancient noble family that traces its origins to those who left in the second half of the 14th century. from the Golden Horde to the Grand Duke of Ryazan Oleg Ioannovich Edu-Khan, nicknamed Strong-Cunning, named Andrei in baptism. At the same time, his brother Salokhmir-Murza, who left, was baptized in 1371 under the name John and married the sister of Prince Anastasia. He became the founder of the Apraksins, Verderevskys, Kryukovs, Khanykovs and others. The Garshin family is an old noble family, descended, according to legend, from Murza Gorsha or Garsha, a native of the Golden Horde under Ivan III.

V. Arsenyev points out that the Dostoevskys descended from Aslan Murza Chelebey, who left the Golden Horde in 1389: he was the ancestor of the Arsenyevs, Zhdanovs, Pavlovs, Somovs, Rtishchevs and many other Russian noble families.

The Begichevs were descended, naturally, from the Horde citizen Begich; the noble families of the Tukhachevskys and Ushakovs had Horde ancestors. The Turgenevs, Mosolovs, Godunovs, Kudashevs, Arakcheevs, Kareevs (from Edigei-Karey, who moved from the Horde to Ryazan in the 13th century, was baptized and took the name Andrei) - all of them are of Horde origin.

During the era of Grozny, the Tatar elite strengthened even more.
For example, during the Kazan campaign (1552), which in history will be presented as the conquest and annexation of the Kazan Khanate to the Moscow state, the army of Ivan the Terrible included more Tatars than the army of Ediger, the ruler of Kazan.

The Yusupovs came from the Nogai Tatars. Naryshkins - from Crimean Tatar Naryshki. Apraksins, Akhmatovs, Tenishevs, Kildishevs, Kugushevs, Ogarkovs, Rachmaninovs - noble families from the Volga Tatars.

The Moldavian boyars Matvey Cantacuzin and Scarlat Sturdza, who emigrated to Russia in the 18th century, received the most cordial treatment. The latter's daughter was a maid of honor to Empress Elizabeth, and later became Countess Edling.The Counts Panins traced their ancestry back to the Italian Panini family, which came from Lucca back in the 14th century. The Karazins came from the Greek family of Karadzhi. The Chicherins descend from the Italian Chicheri, who came to Moscow in 1472 in the retinue of Sophia Paleologus.

The Korsakov family from Lithuania (Kors is the name of the Baltic tribe that lived in Kurzeme).

Using the example of one of the central provinces of the empire, one can see that families of foreign origin made up almost half of the provincial nobility. An analysis of the pedigrees of 87 aristocratic families of the Oryol province shows that 41 families (47%) have foreign origins - traveling nobles baptized under Russian names, and 53% (46) of hereditary families have local roots.

12 of the traveling Oryol families have a genealogy from the Golden Horde (Ermolovs, Mansurovs, Bulgakovs, Uvarovs, Naryshkins, Khanykovs, Elchins, Kartashovs, Khitrovo, Khripunovs, Davydovs, Yushkovs); 10 clans left Poland (the Pokhvisnevs, Telepnevs, Lunins, Pashkovs, Karyakins, Martynovs, Karpovs, Lavrovs, Voronovs, Yurasovskys); 6 families of nobles from the “German” (Tolstoys, Orlovs, Shepelevs, Grigorovs, Danilovs, Chelishchevs); 6 - with roots from Lithuania (Zinovievs, Sokovnins, Volkovs, Pavlovs, Maslovs, Shatilovs) and 7 - from other countries, incl. France, Prussia, Italy, Moldova (Abaza, Voeikovs, Elagins, Ofrosimovs, Khvostovs, Bezobrazovs, Apukhtins)

A historian who has studied the origins of 915 ancient service families provides the following data on their national composition: 229 were of Western European (including German) origin, 223 were of Polish and Lithuanian origin, 156 were of Tatar and other eastern origin, 168 belonged to the house of Rurik.
In other words, 18.3% were descendants of the Rurikovichs, that is, they had Varangian blood; 24.3% were of Polish or Lithuanian origin, 25% came from other Western European countries; 17% from Tatars and others eastern peoples; The nationality of 10.5% was not established, only 4.6% were Great Russians. (N. Zagoskin. Essays on the organization and origin of the service class in pre-Petrine Rus').

Even if we count the descendants of the Rurikovichs and persons of unknown origin as pure Great Russians, it still follows from these calculations that more than two-thirds of the royal servants in last decades The Moscow era was of foreign origin. In the eighteenth century, the proportion of foreigners in the service class increased even more. - R. Pipes. Russia under the old regime, p.240.

Our nobility was Russian only in name, but if someone decides that the situation was different in other countries, they will be greatly mistaken. Poland, the Baltic states, numerous Germanic nations, France, England and Türkiye were all ruled by aliens.

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